Living with cancer has been a roller coaster ride of changing emotions. At first, I was full of gloom and despondency. Then, as I came to accept what was happening, things began to change for the better and I became more in touch with my spiritual side.

My surgeon introduced me to St Mary Magdalene Church in Woodstock where my wife Jan and I were warmly received.

I had found my faith again, and this has been my bedrock. It has restored hope, and given me the strength to carry on. I was still feeling well and in no pain. I felt I would like to give something back.

By now I was on the quarterly treadmill of CT scans and regular visits to hospital consultants.

During one of these visits I was told about a new charity UCARE (www.ucare-oxford.org.uk) set up by local doctors, nurses and patients to research urological cancers, including kidney cancer.

I was impressed with the progress already achieved by such a small team and soon became a fundraiser.

Although my contribution has been small, it has given me something positive to focus on and helped me no end.

It is exciting to watch such a bold venture grow and I am proud to be associated with such an excellent and worthwhile undertaking.

I also joined a local support group called Friends of Renal Oncology Group (FROG).

It is a group of patients with kidney cancer who meet monthly at the Maggie’s Centre at the Churchill Hospital and soon became another invaluable source of support. It was good to be able to share feelings with other people in the same boat.

It never ceases to amaze me just how positive such a group can be. We have speakers and social activities. It’s like a large family, and like other families, at times life can become challenging, especially when we lose someone to this terrible illness.

We are fortunate to have this local group, as I know of many kidney cancer patients in other parts of the country who appear to have been left by the NHS just to get on with it.

I cannot imagine just how lonely and frightened such patients must feel.

As you can imagine in such a group we soon began to discuss our treatment and the options available.

It was then we discovered that the only effective drug available was being denied to a number of our members by Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust.

It was time for action…